Amartya Sen Quotes on Knowledge

Quotes

• Attributed to Amartya Sen:

  “Public reasoning is at the heart of democracy.”

• “Where is the railway station?" he asks me. "There," I say, pointing at the post office, "and would you please post this letter for me on the way?" "Yes," he says, determined to open the envelope and check whether it contains something valuable.”

  Rational Fools: A Critique of the Behavioral Foundations of Economic Theory ,” Philosophy and Public Affairs 6(4) (1977): p. 332.

• “Rational Fools: A Critique of the Behavioral Foundations of Economic Theory ,” Philosophy and Public Affairs 6(4) (1977): p. 332.”

  Where is the railway station?" he asks me. "There," I say, pointing at the post office, "and would you please post this letter for me on the way?" "Yes," he says, determined to open the envelope and check whether it contains something valuable.

• “Amartya Sen, Foreword to The Passions and the Interests by Albert O. Hirschman (1996)”

  The Passions and the Interests does not have the policy urgency that a contribution to public decisions may enjoy (as Hirschman's The Strategy of Economic Development eminently does), nor the compulsive immediacy that the exigencies of practical reason generate (as Exit, Voice, and Loyalty superbly portrayed). What then is so special about this book? […] The answer lies not only in the recognition

• “Amartya Sen, Foreword to The Passions and the Interests by Albert O. Hirschman (1996)”

  Even when altruism is allowed (as, for example, in Gary Becker 's model of rational allocation), it is assumed that the altruistic actions are undertaken because they promote each person's own interests; there are personal gains to the altruist's own welfare, thanks to sympathy for others. No role is given to any sense of commitment about behaving well or to pursuing some selfless objective. All t

• “The behavioral foundations of capitalism do, of course, continue to engage attention, and the pursuit of self-interest still occupies a central position in theories about the workings and successes of capitalism. But in these recent theories, interests are given a rather different—and much more "positive"—role in promoting efficient allocation of resources through informational economy as well as the smooth working of incentives, rather than the negative role of blocking harmful passions.”

  Amartya Sen, Foreword to The Passions and the Interests by Albert O. Hirschman (1996)

• “Amartya Sen, Foreword to The Passions and the Interests by Albert O. Hirschman (1996)”

  The behavioral foundations of capitalism do, of course, continue to engage attention, and the pursuit of self-interest still occupies a central position in theories about the workings and successes of capitalism. But in these recent theories, interests are given a rather different—and much more "positive"—role in promoting efficient allocation of resources through informational economy as well as

• “Amartya Sen, Foreword to The Passions and the Interests by Albert O. Hirschman (1996)”

  I personally have great skepticism about the theories extolling the wonders of " Asian values ." They are often based on badly researched generalizations and frequently uttered by governmental spokesmen countering accusations of authoritarianism and violations of human rights (as happened spectacularly at the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna in 1993).

• “People's identities as Indians, as Asians, or as members of the human race seemed to give way — quite suddenly — to sectarian identification with Hindu, Muslim, or Sikh communities.”

  Amartya Sen, Reason before Identitiy: The Romanes Lecture for 1998, Oxford University Press, 1999. p. 20